1886 



GLEANINGS IN JiEE CULTUUE. 



395 



■WHAT KILLED^THE BEES, ETC. 



LAWYEKS FOR BEE-KEEPEliS. 



WENT into winter quarters with three colonies, 

 as I thought good and strong. One died, and, 

 strange to say, it died with plenty of natural 

 stores. I could not account for it. When I ex- 

 amined them in January there was but about 

 a single handful of bees. These were on a center 

 comb, in the middle of which was a small patch of 

 brood about as large as the palm of my hand. They 

 had plenty of pollen, as well as honej'. Wo could 

 not find any queen. What do you suppose caused 

 them to " play out " in that style? 



I started in the spring- with two colonies. I did 

 not let them swarm. AVe had a poor honey season 

 in our i:eighborhood, but I sold about $9.C0 worth 

 of honey and wax, and ate about $1.00 worth. It 

 was all comb honey. I was not at home, e.vcept at 

 night, and consequently had to keep the bees in 

 the hous3 where I slept. We got along finely to- 

 gether. 



A DOG EATING BROOD. 



In Gleanings for Nov. 15, I. R. Good speaks of 

 "eating- queen-cells," This reminds me, that, sum- 

 mer before last, while I was transferring some bees 

 for my avmt I laid a piece of brood out to one side, 

 andswhen we went to look for it the dog had eaten 

 it up. It was a good large piece of brood too, quite 

 as large as my hand. 



SWARMING BEES. 



In the laiter part of 1883, a lawyer of Burnet, 

 through my influence, bought a swarm of bees; 

 last s >:mmer his kees swarmed, while court was in 

 session hei-e. As he was expecting it he asked a 

 gentleman in the court-room one day if he knew 

 any thing about swarming bees. His friend said he 

 did. 



"Come," said the lawyer, "and go with me to 

 dinner." 



He went. The bees had settled in the top of a 

 sapling. 



" Now," said the guest, " you take an empty box 

 and hold the open end up to receive the bees, while 

 I shake them off." 



My legal friend obeyed, while his guest procured 

 a large stone, quite as much as he could handle 

 well. He struck the sapling a tremendous blow. 



The bees covered the lawyer, who dropped the 

 hive and pursued his friend, whom, I need hardly 

 say, had taken to his heels. Round and round they 

 chased each other, through the orchard and over 

 the garden. Of course, a string of bees followed as 

 the.v >vent. 



"I thought you told me you knew how to swarm 

 bees," was the first (luestion asked. 



"I do; but I don't know much about hiving 

 them," was the answer. 



FIGURES AFTER THE NAMES. 



Please tell me what those figures before and after 

 the bee-keepers' names indicate. I thought at tii-st 

 it was to show how many colonies one had; but 

 how can one determine, when figures are used both 

 before and after names? C. W. Hardy. 



Burnet, Texas. 



Friend II., I do not see any thins strange 

 about the wayryour bees di^d. The colony 

 was so weak that their queen died, and tlien 

 the rest, as a natural consequence, followed. 

 The gueen laid tne eggs that produced the 

 broou, before she steppsd out. We general- 



ly suppose that a lawyer can do almo.st any 

 thing if he sets about "it ; but it seems in the 

 iibove case that the combined talent of tico 

 lawyers didn't manage that swarm of bees 

 successfully.— Figures before a name mean 

 so many years in the business ; after the 

 name, the tirst number means fall count, 

 and the other spring count. 



^ I ^ 



POLLEN FROM THE CACTUS. 



what is the DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A WASP AND 

 A HORNET? 



TTp FTER reading what Ernest said about bees 

 *ii|fe working in rye meal, I went out into a pas- 

 I^k' ture opposite our house where I saw them 

 -■^"*- gathering- pollen from the cactus flowers. 

 I noticed one of them alight in a flower three 

 inches across, containing enough pollen, I think, for 

 half a dozen loads. When he cam? out of his bath 

 he was yellow with pollen; and hanging to the edge 

 of the flower, sometimes by one foot, with a quick 

 motion of his other legs the pollen was scraped 

 into the baskets, and with the middle legs neatly 

 packed down, after which he Hew away. On return- 

 ing to the house I secured some pollen from an in- 

 coming bee, and found that it was quite sweet, 

 while that in the cactus flower was tasteless. This 

 confirmed the opinion which I have entertained for 

 a long time, that, in packing the pollen in their 

 baskets, they used honey to stick it together, and 

 the honey is sup))lied from some secretive glands. 

 While tlie pollen adheres readilj' to the bee, it did 

 not adhere to my finger, which was even moist 

 with perspiration. The cactus is rich in honey as 

 well as poilen, but it can not be reached by bees. 

 If honey were as plentiful in proportion, in this lo- 

 cali tj', as pollen, the yield would be immense. My bees 

 brought in pollen last winter as late as December 

 1.5th, and commenced again on the 14th of February. 

 There are but few pciiods when pollen is not abun- 

 dant. In a week or two, cactus will be in full 

 bloom. 



About two weeks ago drones made their appear- 

 ance in one colony, but were soon dispatched. The 

 young drones were even torn from the cells and 

 carried out. 



Why are robber bees nearly always black and 

 slick? I mean those professional robbers. 



What is the ditt'erence between a wasp and a hor- 

 net? Please describe the kind of nest that each of 

 them builds. Can a wasp or hornet prolong the de- 

 velopment of its young by withholding food? 



I often see my bees come in so heavily laden that 

 they have to stop on the alighting-board half a min- 

 ute, and fan themselves, before they can enter the 

 hive. T. F. McCamant. 



San .Antonio, Texas, April ;J3, 1886. 



Friend M., I guess you have hit the mo- 

 tions, in regard to handling the pollen, about 

 right. I supposed the drones were turned 

 out because of a dearth of honey. The pro- 

 fessional robbers become black and slick by 

 squeezing out and in small holes. Some- 

 times they get tiieir fur pulled off by the 

 sentinels of the hive grabbing them. — Your 

 questions in regard to wasps and hornets 

 come rather under the head of entomology, 

 and I feel sure that Prof. Cook will tell us 

 about them, especially the matter of prolong- 

 ing the development of tlie young. 



